South Koreans Explain How They Were Taught About North Korea in School

Since the Korean War, North and South Korea have lived side by side and have shrouded each other in mystery. One of the more interesting aspects of this shady relationship is the way in which South Korea teaches its youth about its next-door neighbour. Here, South Koreans share what they were taught about North Korea in school.

1. If somebody didn't know the latest fads you'd ask them "are you a spy?" as a joke.

I remember propaganda cartoons on TV. There was a series called where there was a young boy who fought communists, who were shown as animals.

On one hand we were taught that reunification should be the goal, and we sang a song titled "Our Wish is Unification," but on the other hand, we were taught that communists were evil and they did horrible things, axe-murdering American soldiers at the Panmunjeom (a neutral meeting place), slicing open the mouth of a young boy who shouted "I don't like communists/the communist party" (the kid is said to have died and there was a monument at his home town or something).

The North were said to be digging tunnels to surprise-attack the south, and if you went to the borders you could visit the tunnels yourself.

Propaganda materials from the north could be found in the countryside (dropped from balloons? scattered by spies?) and if you found them and turned them in to your teacher, you could get pencils as a reward.

There were said to be undercover agents living among us, northern spies pretending to be from the south. If somebody didn't know the latest fads you'd ask them "are you a spy?" as a joke. We were taught to be suspicious of people who weren't aware of current events.

kjoonlee

2. "I'm Korean American and came to the states after I finished 6th grade in Korea."

Basically, we were taught that we have families and friends in North Korea (NK) and its their government that needs to be taken down. Annually, we had to draw or write wishes of becoming united Korea again and was given award for making the best writing or drawing in school. We were also taught not to waste food because NK "kkotjaebi" (orphaned homeless kids who eat off spilled foods on the market grounds) do not have the luxury to eat what we eat. We were also taught that we have to alert the police or military of any suspicious individuals who may be NK spies.

My grandparents are from Kaesong before Korean conflict happened and majority of their family are in NK. We don't know if any of them is alive or well, but just hope that one day we get to see them.

lawnshark

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3. "The nuance for pity and sympathy is constant."

South Korean here, born and raised in Korea.

When I was in elementary school, the teachings were mostly on pity toward the North Korean general population, especially the children. We would be given assignments to write letters to our North Korean peers. I remember writing one, and all I could write about was how I'd like to send them some of my favorite snacks, because I was taught in school that they were impoverished and shut off from the rest of the world.

When I was in highschool, we learned more about the exploits of the regime, and the importance of democracy. The teachings became more about appreciating what we have in South Korea and understanding the failed government in North Korea (NK).

When I was a soldier in the Korean Army (ROK Army), we were grilled day and night on the belligerent nature of the North Korean government, and how the Kim Dynasty is slaving the NK people. Our shooting targets are still cut outs of NK soldiers.

If you can tell, the nuance for pity and sympathy toward the general North Korean public is constant throughout. South Korea's institutional stance toward NK people still has a warm spot. Movies, TV shows, and other media portraying the sorrows of a divided people are still popular.

To sum up, we are taught to feel sympathy toward the NK people and hate the dictatorship.

solarle

4. Korean living in Canada here.

It wasn't exactly hidden from kids even when they're young. I remember being aware of North Korea's existence as long as I can remember because of the whole reunification movement that is visible in everyday life, even before I started going to school.

The general vibe was that they were taken away from us, living in harsh conditions and that we should try to reunite as a favour to them.

cubenori

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5. "Wow you're really from there??"

Actual Korean here.

In school, it never got too political. If anything, it was more sympathetic. What I remember is it being painted as a political problem, we were a country that was torn that should unite again someday. I remember we did see footage of what dire conditions North Koreans live through in class.

In middle school we had a student that was from North Korea that defected through China I don't remember having many specific conversations with her but the overall attitude was fascination more than anything. ("Wow you're really from there??")

I think it's also important to note there were still many people whose grandparents were from the North. My grandpa, for example, was from the North and had a whole family there. He was down south on business when it all happened and never quite made his way back I suppose. He is no longer with us and he never found out what happened to his previous family. I'd imagine there's relatively few people left who are from the North and grew up there long enough to remember a lot or have family they remember back there now.

mechiamanor

6. Essentially, there are two ways to look at it...

Born in South Korea (SK), moved to Canada when I was 7.

Essentially, in SK in the 90's, there were two lenses through which one could view North Korea (NK):

Civic nationalist doctrine: Screw NK and their evil government, they want nukes, starve their people, and want to kill us all if they could. SK is definitely the good guys, look how rich we are now compared to them, they lost the Cold War and it's only a matter of time until they collapse.

Ethno-nationalist doctrine: North Koreans are our own blood, and they are starving (see: arduous march), we gotta help them. New liberal president of SK, Kim Dae Joong initiates the Sunshine Policy to be kinder and friendlier to the North, and the future is bright for all Koreans.

Compare that to today, where most everyone is either apathetic or hateful towards NK, or nostalgic of the old days (see: Moon Jae-In platform). Mostly apathetic, but them North Koreans are getting close to getting ICBMs soooo...

benjopark

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7. A huge difference between generations.

I am 34 and was raised in Korea until 12. North Korea (NK) was a starving communist country that always threatened and was willing to attack South Korea (SK) at any given opportunity. NK caused the Korean War that cost the peninsula dearly, but global alliance headed by America saved SK. Despite the war, South Koreans drove the economy to grow at a tremendous speed (miracle of Han river as Koreans call it), surprising the entire world while NK was still starving and forever looking for ways to attack SK.

Meanwhile, we were also taught NK and SK is one country, and that reunification is the dream of all Koreans, and that we should strive for reunification without really talking about the methods....

But my parents era is completely different. I remember my mom telling me (shes nearly 60) how she once thought North Koreans had crimson face like Dokebi (sort of Korean ogre) with horns on their heads when she was little. So there must be a change in tone somewhere in between.

junjunforever

8. "They have no idea where Mickey Mouse came from."

Hey! I'm South Korean; however, I was born in America. My parents were born in Korea and they've told me stories about North Korea. Actually, my grandfather has relatives there.

What my parents have told me is that everyone in North Korea is brainwashed to a point where they think the dictator can read their minds. Everything there is censored and they truly do think their country is superior than anyone else's. Their food rations are low and everything is outdated. With the censoring, a good example would be Mickey Mouse. They have no idea of where it came from and have no idea it's from Disney. They just think it's a regular mouse.

Kim Jong-il (left) Kim Jong-un (right)

They're not allowed to watch movies unless approved by the government. They're not allowed to think bad things (hence the part where they think the dictator can read their minds). They're not even allowed to say bad stuff about the dictator. Also idk if you know but there's a rule where if your (for example) sister does something bad, her future generations will also be punished #booooo

illuminivy

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9. With each passing year, hope dwindles.

I was born in South Korea, left when I was 5 for California, and came back to Seoul almost every summer. I wasn't taught about North Korea in school, but my family fled to the south when war broke out, and my grandpa fought for the south. He reunited with his little brother in a market place when they were both adult men--his little brother had escaped the north as some point amidst the chaos of war.

My family has always talked about the north with empathy; my mother and my uncles would not have been born had both my grandparents' families fled (both of my great-grandmothers died in the war). I've always seen it as a tragedy that the countries are separated, and my family has always hoped for reunification. Generally, as a South Korean, I feel like we hope for reunification under a democracy, but with each passing year that hope dwindles as the reality of how shockingly different our two cultures/mindsets/ways of life are now sets in.

unimpressedbunny

10. "Their citizens are our brothers."

I grew up in South Korea. I guess the difference is that it gets taught at school and is brought up more often. Things like how North Koreans are suffering because of their horrible dictatorship government but their citizens are our brothers, how tragic the Korean War was, and peaceful reunification is the goal. To add a little bit more context, there was a stronger anti-Japan sentiment than an anti-NK sentiment, at least when I was growing up. This was in the late 90's early 00's.

extracheekynandos

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11. "I really believed North Koreans had a red skin."

I left S Korea about 26 years ago. When I was in Elementary school, we were taught that North Korea and its people were evil. We were given assignments to draw or paint anti-N Korea posters(a lot of them) and we always painted N Koreans as red skinned and warmongering monsters. (I really believed North Koreans had a red skin until High School) In other classes, whenever N Korea is mentioned, it was all anti-N Korea propaganda.

After elementary school, we were taught less about N Korea and more about going to the better Universities. The higher grade I was in we were taught less about N Korea. So we didn't really care about N Korea that much at the end of High School due to impending University entrance exam.

After High school, N Korea was more or less nuisance for us. Unless they did something stupid, we didn't really hear or care about N Korea that much.

unknownid

12. "It was Kim Jong Il that we were supposed to hate."

I grew up in Seoul, stayed in the country until I was 15, before moving out of the country.

When I was in grade school, (this was almost throughout the 2000s), we were taught that our brothers up north were, indeed, brothers. It was Kim Jong Il that we were supposed to hate. This was, retrospectively, a reflection of our regime at the time; President Kim Dae Joong and President Roh Mu Hyeon (both are considered very liberal).

l1nk1npark

13. "It's usually the older generations that seek reunification."

Korean living in America. I think the general sentiment is that North Koreans and South Koreans are one people. Ethnically we aren't different. It's a shame that political reasons separate the countries today. South Koreans don't hate North Koreans. They just hate the government that rules over them.

I believe that the general consensus of the younger generations is that reunification isn't a priority. They believe that their country is a mess and reunifying with North Korea would further exacerbate things.

On the other hand, it's usually the older generations that seek reunification. They're the ones who actually faced the effects of civil war. They're the ones who have become separated from their families. Sadly, as this older generation dies out, I think reunification will slowly be out of the minds of South Koreans.

Have you ever found yourself in an argument so stupid and/or pointless that you were sure you were being punked? Like you keep looking away from the other person to check your surroundings for places Ashton Kutcher and a camera crew could come popping out of?

Brace yourselves, folks. Some of these arguments are breathtakingly bonkers. The sheer number of people who are willing to argue with someone over provable facts and what that other person likes or doesn't like is just ... stunning. It's stunning, you guys. Just not in a good way.

Saturdays

My husband and I have this thing where we only say "I love you" on Saturdays. Every other day it's "I love you, but only on Saturdays." I don't know how it started, but it's been going for 11 years now.

We're both shiftworkers, so sometimes we have to stop and think what day it actually is. We had an argument recently over whether it was Saturday or not. I said it was Saturday, he said it was Friday. It was Monday.

Iraq

I remember when I was about 13 my parents had an hour-long shouting match that ended with them almost getting divorced. The issue? Whether or not the nation of Iraq has a coastline.

My mother arguing that Iraq had a coastline, while my stepdad argued that it did not. This was back in 2004, and they are still quite happily married to this day. That incident is something they look back on and laugh about, and both of them admit it was really a pretty stupid thing to argue over.

Mini Wheats

When we were kids my brother and I got in a physical fight because he said I like mini wheats and I insisted I didn't. His argument was that I always sang the mini wheats song and I was deeply offended that he wasn't aware that it was just stuck in my head but I hated the cereal. I actually did like the cereal I'm not sure why I was arguing with him about it but I remember how genuinely angry I was.

Crayons

I'll tell you about the only legal trouble I've ever been in, the fight that got me arrested. It started over whether we should return a box of crayons or not, and to this day I don't have any idea how it escalated to the point of the cops being called, but they were and I was the one taken in.

That's Unfair

My boyfriend insisted that when two people are in an argument and one makes a point so reasonable and logical the other one can't disagree with it - it's unfair. I tried, logically and reasonably, to explain several times why that is just winning the argument, proving your point thoroughly and is completely fair.

Emailing NASA

A Non-Standard Ruler?

I worked for a company that made signs. We had a customer ask for signs that were 7mm wide that were to go on a door. Our sign makers figured the order meant inches because 7mm is pretty small, so made them 7 inches. I got a phone call from the customer who went mad at me for making them the wrong size. So I put a reorder through for 7 mm.

Argued with the sign makers over it but they eventually agreed to do it after I shown them the order in writing. I even had the customer put her complaint in writing, reiterating the size they wanted.

7mm signs went out and a day later I get the customer on the phone literally screaming at me.

Cue the dumb argument - we ended up having an argument over how big a millimetre is, and obviously everyone in the office were laughing, but this customer just wouldn't accept it and said we must be using a non-standard ruler to measure.

Ended up being escalating to the sales department manager who refused to issue a refund. We still don't know what they actually meant.

This Unusual Vegan Argument

Was in a pub with a few friends, and some random Dude dropped an ear, and somehow figured I'm vegan. Well, people like him are the reason I usually avoid mentioning it. He came up to me and insisted on starting a discussion about veganism. He claimed that by the end of it, I would be eating meat again.

He listed some stupid arguments, I told him I was not convinced and then tried to keep on drinking beer with my friends. He followed me, and wanted me to "try to convert him to a vegan." I stupidly listed some of my reasons thinking it would make him go away. He told me he still was not convinced, so I was like whatever. Again, I really just wanted to drink beer with my friends.

That dude followed me all night and expected me to try make him vegan. Doesn't matter what I said, and all the reasons that for me are obviously good enough to be vegan. He'd be just like "No, that doesn't convince me, therefore your argument and how you life is stupid."

Didn't matter how often I told him that I honestly don't care; 5 minutes later he would come up to me again "I'm still not vegan, so veganism is stupid, all your arguments were stupid, now give me a good reason to become vegan!" At one point, I was literally yelling at him that I don't give a single flying f about what he eats and why, that it's in no way my responsibility to "turn somebody vegan" and in no way his business what I eat.

Honestly, for that dude, I would have bought a whole ham, just to shove it up his stupid annoying face.

Monty Python

In college my roommate and I argued about a line in Monty Python & the Holy Grail. The scene with the Black Knight where the line "Alright, we'll call it a draw" is uttered. We argued about who said that line, whether it was King Arthur or the Black Knight.

It went on for hours longer than it should have because I was stubborn and refused to admit I was wrong.

Albert or Arnold

Below Sea Level

I live on an island and when you go upland and you look out the sea looks like it's higher than or on the same level as the land. It's just a weird perspective thing because of the horizon. One day some kid says that it's because the island is under sea level.

I'm like wtf bro all of us would be with the fishes. He argues that no that's not true and if I just go upland I'll see. We then spend a good 5 minutes of my time arguing about it until I decided to leave this kid in his stupidity. He even said we shouldn't believe everything adults tell us and sometimes we need to think for ourselves.

This kid was older than me and was going to a good school. Lost my respect for him ever since then.

Tomash

Now, my name is in a lot of languages with slightly different spellings. I would have accepted any of those spellings, but this one was just... Not even close. It didn't make any logical sense.

An analogous example is if my name was Thomas and someone was insisting it was spelled Tomash. And not just the name Thomas in general, but that me specifically, on my birth certificate, was named Tomash. I know how to spell my own name.

Whales Are Mammals

I was in an online chat room one day, and we were talking about whales. I commented on how whales are mammals and the next thing you know, someone was arguing with me and trying to convince me that a whale was a fish.

Shower Schedule

No Balloons For Grandma

My cousin and I argued over a balloon going to Heaven. We were at his big sisters prom send off and he let a balloon go and it went high into the sky.

He then said this balloon will go up past space and go to Heaven and reach grandma (God rest her soul). And I was like no it's not and it's probably not even gonna reach space. Releasing balloons is terrible for the environment and kills/harms so much wildlife.

He got really mad and defensive and started telling me to google it and do my research and I'm like I don't have to google it you idiot. He was mad at me for a good week.

Spontaneous Dolphin Existence

How dolphins reproduced. It took me a few solid minutes of explaining to her that dolphins have reproductive organs and that they did not just pop into existence. The argument began with her saying she wanted to work with sea creatures.

Personally, I hope she was messing with me cause I lost a little faith in humanity that day.

Male Chickens

Lightning McQueen

Me and my friend were drinking underage, we ended up in an argument of whether lightning McQueen's eyes were blue or green. Somehow throughout the whole thing both of us never thought to straight up google a picture.

Andre 2000?

I'm late, but I saw this question and instantly remembered that I was booted from a Facebook group because I called someone out on a lie that was not only bull, but extremely pointless. She was friends with the moderator and they made the case that my argument over such a little lie was more of a problem than the lie itself (though they didn't refer to it as a lie.)

The woman said that she used to babysit for Andre 3000 and that his name was Andre 2000 - but he changed it after the year 2000 had passed. This was so easily disproven it was ridiculous. Their debut album came out in 1994 and he was already going by Andre 3000 at that time.

The argument wasn't a huge long drawn out thing, but the fact that either of us were on Facebook at separate times meant that the responses were over a long period of time so this argument lasted a few days.

Stars Like Our Sun

Richard Nixon

I have a degree in history. I mostly focused on nationalism. Wrote a 50 page paper on it and Richard Nixon with around 50 100 sources. Looked at micro film for hours on end. Part of the paper focused on how Nixon being chair of the house committee of Unamerican Activities was used as a powerful weapon to use against political enemies. It also inspired Joe McCarthy. Have had people tell me I was wrong and Nixon was never elected to a position besides the president and Joe McCarthy came before Nixon. I stopped trying to talk history to people.

I also know quite a bit about the history of the Balkans its amazing how many Serbs refuse to believe Tito did anything wrong.

Wrote 100 page paper on nationalism in Israel. Its frustrating to talk about because for some reason a lot of people think Palestinian firing rockets randomly into Israel is ok but if Israel retaliates the people get up in arms over a targeted air strike that kills 3 people.

Balloon to Heaven

My cousin and I argued over a balloon going to Heaven. We were at his big sisters prom send off and he let a balloon go and it went high into the sky. He then said this balloon will go up past space and go to Heaven and reach grandma (God rest her soul). And I was like no it's not and it's probably not even gonna reach space.

And he got really mad and defensive and started telling me to google it and do my research and I'm like I don't have to google it you idiot. He was mad at me for a good week.

Binder Clips

I got into an argument with a co-worker over how we were attaching two pages of a letter together: small binder clips or paper clips.

He felt that paper clips would leave a "dent" in the paper when removed, but binder clips won't. He refused to staple them together. I felt that binder clips would also leave a "dent", so we might as well just use the paper clips.

It ended with him saying: "Do what you want [me], I don't care!" and storming off.

Lingerie Boxes

Late to the party, but there it is.

I'm a manager at a small store. We're only 4 working there, so my team and I grew very close and we joke around a lot. Once during a slow shift, my employee and I had an argument because we were looking at the lingerie boxes, and I thought that two specific boxes had the same woman on it, but she was 100% positive they weren't the same person.

Looking back, I don't know why it was such a big deal to us at the time, but we even called another employee who lives across the street to come and tell us what the heck was up with that. Turns out I was right, and she was pretty salty about it. It was a great night.

Wicked Witch of the West

I almost got into an argument with an old girlfriend over Glinda the good witch from Oz. She insisted that Glinda was manipulating Dorothy to assassinate the Wicked Witch of the West and convince the Wizard to leave to create a political void she could fill.

I conceded the issue when I heard the whole premise because I thought it was too damn stupid to get worked up over.

Keep Your Hands to Yourself

Just the other day I legit got in an argument with my co-workers on why I don't like my butt being grabbed by anyone (I'm a guy). Seriously.

They went on about "I don't mind it. Mike and I do it all the time and we don't care." Yeah, that's nice dude, but I'm not you, and there's something called "Keep your hands to yourself" (which was taught to a good portion of us growing up). Just like how Karen wouldn't like it if I touched her boobs or her grabbing your crotch or frankly ANY area you wouldn't like being grabbed, keep away. In general, you should not be touching me in any areas after I've told you not to several times before.

Telekinesis

My best friend and I argued over whether or not telekinesis was possible. Her argument was that humans don't yet know what the human brain at 100% usage was capable of, and that telekinesis was inside the possibilities.

Ghosts

How dolphins reproduced and whether or not ghost existed (back to back with the same person). It took me a few solid minutes of explaining to her that dolphins have reproductive organs and that they did not just pop into existence (the argument began with her saying she wanted to work with sea creatures).

How it shifted to the existence of ghosts is a solid and reasonable question to ask (I don't remember why). I had to then proceed to tell her that ghost hunting TV shows do not constitute as undeniable evidence.

Personally, I hope she was messing with me cause I lost a little faith in humanity that day. This was in high school SO... hopefully she was kidding.

Dogs and Chocolate

I told this stupid woman that chocolate is toxic to dogs. She went on to tell me how a little bit will just make them hyper and then they will calm down. I told her to google it. Her and her bf shut right up. Now they have a kid. Good luck, Jeremy and Andrea. morons.

I should also add that this argument started because Jeremy was giving his tiny dog chocolate and I told him it was toxic.

Is water wet?

Mission Trip

A kid a church telling me about the mission trip I went on. Not only was I not on that trip, but I had never been on any mission trip. We were good friends, so it's not like he would've mistaken someone else for me.

He insisted I was there as if an entire week long trip would just fall out of my memory. He even had stories of things we'd done together. I'm not sure if he thought I was lying, joking, stupid, or crazy, but I was pretty sure he was some combination thereof.

Dragon Tales

One time I got into a shouting match with my mom and little brother in the car. The issue? The names of the two-headed dragon from the PBS kids afternoon show Dragon Tales. I swore it was Zack and Macie.

It was actually Zak and Wheezie. I don't even remember why we were yelling about it.

Green Or Yellow?

When I was about 15 or so my mother and I spent about 20-30 minutes arguing about the color of a shirt. We agreed it was blue/green, but to me it was just a shade more blue, while to her it was just a bit more green.

Turns out, your eyeballs yellow as you age and hers were 24 years yellower than mine, so I think that skewed her color vision.

Stars In Their Multitude

I once got in an argument over whether or not a line from the song "Stars" in Les Mis says "...but mine is the way of the lord" or "mine is the way of the law".

I didn't even really care what he thought but he was so adamant and cocky that it got me heated. By the end of it we were shouting at each other and I had to apologize, which I think is what he wanted the whole time.

Biology Class

I had an argument with a girl IN THE MIDDLE OF A BIOLOGY CLASS in high school about how humans are not mammals. She thought a human was a human and we are not mammals because "mammals are animals and humans are not animals"

I tried explaining to her the difference between reptiles and mammals and how humans fall under the mammal category to try and educate her... but she just wouldn't listen.

Solid Or Liquid?

Some classmates and I got into a heated debate as to whether or not the human body could count as a soup, salad, or sandwich. The teacher got mad at us, but hey! All we were doing was watching a movie.

For the record, my logic lays with soup- Liquid contained within a solid, at a hot temperature.